Kurra, Taka and Duskie walked along the dirt path that Zero had left on. Kurra was in the lead, and Taka and Duskie were a little ways behind, talking quietly so Kurra wouldn't hear them. Taka turned her muzzle close to Duskie, and whispered to him.
"Do you really want to hurt those two?" She whispered. Duskie shook his head no.
"So then, what do we do?" He spoke softly
"Hmm...I could create a diversion, I could say I'm going to run ahead to find them, when really, I'd just run ahead to warn them?" Taka suggested. Duskie nodded.
"I'll try to slow Kurra down, to give them a chance to escape. Now go!" Duskie whispered to Taka as she walked over to Kurra. He grinned to himself. She's such an idiot...She fell for it. She's pulling herself directly into a trap, cleverly formulated by none other than me.
"Hey, Kurra, why don't I run ahead and find them! I could pretend to be on their side, and hold them back while you guys catch up." Taka faked. Kurra grinned.
"That sounds like a deliciously evil plan. Go ahead, Taka." He flicked his tail, sending her off. Taka smiled brightly and ran off farther down the path. She was the fastest of the three, so she wouldn't have a problem. Her large claws dug into the earthy ground as she ran.
Meanwhile, the group of four were continuing to walk. They had strayed from the path, and found themselves trying to navigate through very tall grass.
"Great. Just great." Glisten growled as she harshly thwacked away at the grass with her tail. "Now we're lost!"
"Hey, calm down." Bugsy assuaged her. "Maybe we could...um...ask somebody for directions?"
"Does it look like anybody's here!?" Glisten barked. Just at that moment, there was a rustle in the grass. Slight laughter was heard. A young, eerie voice spoke through the grass.
"Who are youuuu?" It giggled. It sounded like a little girl. She was giggling creepily. A small white muzzle poked through the grass, grinning a terrible, white smile.
"Don't you knowww?" She was dragging out the last words of her sentences. "The darkness is cominnnngg!" She jumped through the grass, and it was revealed that she was a sylveon. Her right eye twitched. "Get out of hereee! Quicklyyyy!" She laughed. Glisten glared at her.
"I've seen this before. Weaker minds get overcome by the spreading darkness, and turn them into this. Some crazy, demented psycho." She muttered. Zero felt sort of bad for the sylveon. He walked up to her, and she backed away a little, but kept laughing.
"Hey, what's your name?" He asked her.
"Yumi," She answered. "I'm trying to kill the darknessss!" She said spookily.
"She could be a good addition to our group." Zero told the others. Glisten gave him a glance, her crystal-blue eyes glaring so coldly it was like an icicle falling off a roof and driving into somebody's skin.
"Are you kidding me? You're freaking serious? Look at her! She's out of her mind! She can't possibly fight!" Glisten snapped. Yumi grinned at her.
"You haven't seen what I can doooo!" She giggled before lashing out at Glisten. Glisten dodged just barely, then breathed a thin stream of ice. It just barely poked Yumi on the nose before she turned to the side, and lunged to Glisten's side for another attack. Her claws turned into shadows, and she scratched at Glisten's side. (Yes this is Shadow Claw, and although sylveon's type is unknown yet, I believe that sylveon is a ghost type.) Next, a dark ball of shadows materialized in front of Yumi, and shot out at Glisten, knocking her to the ground with swirls in her eyes. Zero stared in awe. For somebody to have beaten Glisten in battle is unbelievable! And somebody of Yumi's condition, with the darkness maddening her brain, she must have been an amazing fighter when she was sane.
Glisten shook her head and got up, dazed. She glared at the ground.
"Fine, I guess she could be a good addition to the team..." She admitted solemnly. Bugsy laughed good-naturedly. Yumi smiled pridefully.
"But you know, I'm not the only onnnnne..." She flicked her short tail over to the shaking grass. A Flareon emerged, a tiny Eevee close at his heels. The Flareon looked over at the group, and sidestepped farther in front of the Eevee, in a protective stance. He cleared his throat.
"I see you've met Yumi. She seems to trust you, so I guess I can, too. I can't help but trust my sister's judgement. I'm Hiro. This is my littlest sister, Daisy." He spoke with a cautious tone, gesturing with his fluffy tail towards the Eevee, who hid, frightened, behind her brother. Zero smiled at the sight of brother and sister united. He missed Daze, and he missed her a lot. He welcomed the little group of siblings into FADE with open arms.
The group introduced each other to Yumi, Hiro and Daisy, and Yumi quickly made friends with Bugsy. Hiro was hesitant about talking to anybody, but Zero managed to befriend him. Daisy also took a liking to Zero. After Zero explained the situation to the three, Hiro agreed to help without hesitation. The group of now seven, continued walking through the tall grass, with the guidance of Hiro and Yumi. After a long trek, they finally reached the dirt path, just in time to see none other than Taka.
How will the group react to the appearance of Taka? Will they believe her? Will they let her join, or will they attack her? Find out in the next chapter of FADE!